Goodwin is good with the dagger three to cement a Heat victory

Graduating forward Dave Mackay (Vancouver, BC) has, in coach Guarasci's words, helped "establish a culture" during his four-year career in Heat uniform with his hard work, effort and attitude on and off the court. (Photo by Dale Abbey)

KELOWNA - Rookie guard Mitch Goodwin (Kelowna, BC) hit a three-pointer with 1:17 remaining in overtime that visibly deflated the visiting Thompson Rivers WolfPack, as the Heat went on to garner their fifth victory of the season 86-77.

The Heat were off to an excellent start as they held the WolfPack to just 28 points in the first half resulting in an 11 point bulge for UBC Okanagan at the break. However, coming out of halftime the WolfPack were able to find a rhythm against the Heat’s pesky backcourt combo of Goodwin and fourth-year guard Yassine Ghomari (Vancouver, BC).

The Heat maintained their lead throughout most of the second half pushing the lead to 69-57 with 5:37 left in the fourth quarter when the shots stopped falling for home squad. TRU scored the next 12 points to tie the game with 1:39 left.

It looked like the Heat would take the final lead of the game when fourth-year forward Ed Dane Medi (Rome, IT) got a good look and converted the basket in the waning seconds of the fourth-quarter. He was called for travelling, however, and his basket did not count as the game headed into overtime 73-73.

The Heat came out strong in the extra frame, though, and several defensive stops led to maintaining their lead from 3:35 remaining and onward. Goodwin’s three-ball, the tenth on the night for the hosts, put the Heat out of reach for good and the home crowd stood in ovation and applause for the win and the season’s effort.

Yassine Ghomari (fourth-year, Vancouver, BC) was the Heat Player of the Game after pouring in a game-high 26 points, his free-throw shooting proving clutch down the stretch of the fourth and overtime periods (he hit 13-17). Goodwin finished with 18 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Graduating forward Dave Mackay (fourth-year, Vancouver, BC) suffered from foul trouble but provided a lot of heart and effort on the defensive end before fouling out with 1:39 remaining in the fourth. He contributed four points and two rebounds in the effort.

“It’s the way I should go out you know? I thought it was appropriate,” Mackay jokingly said postgame, full tongue in cheek.

In a more serious tone, Mackay then proceeded to reflect on his surprise return to a Heat uniform after a year off to focus on school: “It’s been good, it’s been a grind. I didn’t know I was going to play this year. [I] decided to play and talked to Pete. And it’s been great playing for Pete, I mean, he’s an amazing coach … the guys were real close, we stuck together and second half we were in almost every game. We improved as each game went on.

“I’m proud of the guys. They got me a win tonight,” he added with his familiar smile.

Head coach Pete Guarasci gushed over his lone grad after the game: “I coached Dave as an assistant when I was here and he just brings a lot of intangibles to your team that are difficult to find at times. You guys see him in games but I see him in the locker room, I see him on the bus, I see him in practice, and what he’s brought to the team this year for my first year coaching … I just don’t think you can put a price on that. He’s been great just with his leadership, he’s very vocal, just been definitely somebody who’s helped me kind of kick-start and build our culture here.”

Asked to reflect on his first season coaching the team, Guarasci was not at a loss of words: “I like this group and although the results don’t show it, just the fact that we progressed the way we progressed, there’s something about it that I feel pretty good about. Their mental focus throughout the year was always just to improve and get better in practice and get better in games. That was our goal, our goal was to improve as a team throughout the year and I think we’ve definitely accomplished that. They were a really fun group to coach and I’m really proud about the way our season progressed and how much they improved.”

Looking forward, Pete sees a bright future for a core that will remain largely intact for next season. “If they put in that good off-season of training that we can come in at the end of September and start off where we are now,” he said. “As much as I need a break from this season, I’m definitely excited for next season.”

Third-year guard Brett Rouault finished with 19 points and six rebounds for the WolfPack in their loss. Fifth-year guard Kevin Pribilsky recorded 16 points and 6 rebounds in team-leading 40 minute effort as he closed out his career in a Canada West uniform.

The win will be the Heat’s fifth win of the season to wrap up their second Canada West campaign. The night also marks the final night of competition for Heat athletics during the 2012-13 academic year. The lights will dim in The Furnace and the familiar chants of “U-B-C WHAT?” will not echo through the rafters until next fall.

Heat notes: Tonight was also a night of giving back for Heat athletics. For every three-pointer scored by the Heat, $50 would be donated by the department to KidSportTM, a charity that provides support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. The men netted 10 three-pointers for $500. Alongside the women’s eight threes and $400, the Heat raised a grand total of $900 for KidSportTM.